2011 - 2012 CONCERT SCHEDULE

Leonid Shukayev, cello; Alla Aranovskaya and Evgeny Zvonnikov, violins; Boris Vayner, viola

PROGRAM

BRAHMS Piano Quartet in G Minor, Op.25 (1862), “Gypsy Rondo”; SHOSTAKOVICH Quartet No.1 in C Major, Op.49 (1935); BRAHMS Piano Quintet in F Minor, Op.34.

Pre-Concert Talk:  Janet Sims

MUSIC

In 1862 Brahms presented himself to Viennese society with the G Minor Piano Quartet and won enthusiastic acceptance. That year Brahms started working on a Cello Quintet, which eventually became his noble Piano Quintet. Shostakovich called his First Quartet a “springtime work”; pleasurable and delightful.

ARTISTS

The SPSQ's interpretations and recordings of Shostakovich quartets are deemed to be some of the finest and have brought them worldwide acclaim. “An edge-of-the-seat experience...”  - BBC Music Magazine

Naumburg Award-winning pianist Anton Nel is praised by The New York Times as “an uncommonly elegant pianist” (Anthony Tommasini), and “an excellent interpreter of Romantic music” (Allan Kozinn).

stpetersburgquartet.com   •   antonnel.com

Cecily Ward and Tom Stone, violins; Jennifer Kloetzel, cello; Ethan Filner, viola

PROGRAM

Gaspar CASSADÓ (1897-1966): Suite for Solo Cello (1926); BEETHOVEN Quartet in F Minor, Op.95 “Serioso” (1810); SCHUBERT Cello Quintet in C Major (1828), Op.163, D.956.

Pre-Concert Talk:  Roger Emanuels

MUSIC

The Solo Suite of Catalan composer/cellist Cassadó, a pupil of Casals, has three dance movements: a Saraband, a Catalan Sardana, and a Jota. Beethoven's short and compact Op. 95 Quartet is the only one he subtitled “Serioso,” reflecting the work's somber mood and his despondency at that time. Many deem Schubert's C Major Cello Quintet – written two months before his death – the greatest work in chamber music.

ARTISTS

San Francisco based Cypress Quartet (formed in 1996) is recording the Beethoven Quartet cycle, and reviewers have said “I don't believe I've ever heard a more profound reading.” - American Record Guide; “Strongly recommended”  - Fanfare.

Cellist Gary Hoffman, Vancouver BC-born and now Paris-based, won world renown in 1986 as the first American winner of the Rostropovich International Competition.

cypressquartet.com

Nine master musicans on original instruments - strings and harpsichord

PROGRAM

PUGNANI-KREISLER Introduction and Allegro; TARTINI cello concerto in D Major; BOCCHERINI “Fandango”; VIVALDI Violin Concerti RV. 261 & Op.9 #5 “la Cetra” RV. 358; CIMAROSA Harpsichord Concerto in G-Flat Major; PAGANINI La Campanella.

Pre-Concert Talk:  Gary Lemco

MUSIC

Venetian maestro Vivaldi composed more than five hundred concerti. Virtuoso Fritz Kreisler adapted the music of the past (eg. Pugnani) when he composed pieces for his recitals. Tartini helped develop acoustic theory and the virtuoso violin concerto. Boccherini's “Fandango” is from his guitar quintet. Cimarosa was court maestro in St. Petersburg and Vienna. “La campanella” (The Little Bell), the final movement of Paganini's Violin Concerto #2 in B minor, was borrowed by Liszt in 1851 for his “Grand Paganini Etudes”.

ARTISTS

The Interpreti Veneziani perform over 300 concerts a year at Vivaldi’s old church, San Vidal, in Venice. They’ll bring us the romanticism of Venice and the shimmering beauty of Italian baroque string concerti, with youthful exuberance and all-Italian brio.

interpretiveneziani.com

Oliver Boekhoorn, oboe; Ivar Berix, clarinet; Raaf Hekkema, saxophone; Jelte Althuis, bass clarinet; Alban Wesly, bassoon

PROGRAM

BACH Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 (1741); DEBUSSY Suite Bergamasque [1890, rev. 1905]; SHOSTAKOVICH Preludes & Fugues, Op.87 1950-51)(selections); Michelangelo ROSSI (1601-1656) Three Toccatas.

Pre-Concert Talk:  Calefax member Raaf Hekkema

MUSIC

Bach's Goldberg Variations – like all great works – invites and rewards re-imagining and re-experiencing. Debussy's “Suite Bergamasque” for piano pays tribute to French harpsichordists and dance forms of earlier times, and includes “Clair de Lune”. Shostakovich’s 24 Preludes and Fugues, one in each key, look back to Bach and Chopin, and were an inward respite from Soviet Realism. Baroque-era violin virtuoso Rossi is now chiefly regarded for his keyboard music, especially his toccatas.

ARTISTS

Calefax Reed Quintet (formed in 1985) is in demand worldwide for their unique instrumentation, their relationship with audiences, and their captivating arrangements. “Calefax – five extremely gifted Dutch gents who almost made the reed quintet seem the best musical format on the planet.” - The Times of London.

calefax.nl

Sebastian Schmidt & Nanette Schmidt, violins; Roland Glassl, viola; Bernhard Schmidt, cello

PROGRAM

MENDELSSOHN Quartet in D Major, Op.44 #1; DEBUSSY Quartet in G Major, Op.10; Emmanuel SEJOURNE Concerto for Marimba & Strings (2005); Ney ROSAURO Concerto for Marimba & Strings.

Pre-Concert Talk:  Mark Veregge

MUSIC

Audiences listen with “sheer pleasure and feeling” to the concerti of French composer Emmanuel Séjourné (b. 1961). Brazilian Ney Rosauro's (b. 1952) “Concerto for Marimba” was composed in 1986 to advance the then new four-mallet technique, and has become the world's most performed marimba concerto. Debussy's Quartet helped set his new Impressionist style. The first of Mendelssohn's three Op.44 quartets, composed in the happy year after his wedding, was his personal favorite.

ARTISTS

Mandelring Quartet's three siblings and their close friend have been playing music together for over 20 years. “Impeccable sense of style.” - N.Y. Times. “A performance that blazed with light and energy.” - Washington Post.

In the 1990s marimba virtuoso Dr. Katarzyna Mycka won numerous international competitions, and is now a guest soloist all over the world.

mandelring.com   •   marimbasolo.com

Andrew Armstrong, piano; Anthea Kreston, violin; Jason Duckles, cello

PROGRAM

BEETHOVEN Piano Trio in E-Flat Major, Op.1 #1; & Piano Trio in B Flat Major, Op.97, “Archduke”; RACHMANINOFF Trio élégiaque #1 in G Minor.

Pre-Concert Talk:  Bill Meredith

MUSIC

Beethoven's Opus 1 signaled his readiness in 1795 to make his mark in the world of Viennese classical music, and 16 years later his final piano trio, the “Archduke”, epitomizes the breadth and warmth of Beethoven's Heroic Period. Rachmaninoff's youthful trio of 1892, at age 19, already shows in the virtuoso piano part his ability to evoke a wide spectrum of sound colors.

ARTISTS

Formed in 1999, the Amelia Piano Trio was presented in Carnegie Hall debut in 2000 by their mentor Isaac Stern. Known for their charismatic and extroverted performances, they’ve been NPR Ensemble in- residence, and are now based in Oregon. “[The Amelia's] ...careful attention to balance, tonal beauty, and teamwork was exemplary.” - Strad Magazine; “Together they make music that is daring, lively and completely engrossing.” - The Seattle Times

ameliapianotrio.com